Rockies’ Dickerson hones leadoff skills; Belisle working on changeup

Outfielder Corey Dickerson slides in safely for a triple at Coors Field last season. The confident young outfielder is hoping for a shot as a leadoff hitter. (Getty Images file photo)

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Sunday morning was about weights, measurements, poking and prodding for the Rockies’ pitchers and catchers as they went through their spring training physicals. There was little on-field work. That comes tomorrow when the Rockies hold their first official workout.

By the time all of the position players report at the end of the week, the Rockies will have 64 players in the big-league camp. Many of them are already here.

“We’ve had 30-plus players here for the last week,” trainer Keith Dugger said. “I think that’s a good sign.”

Here are some early spring training notes of note:

* Always confident outfielder Corey Dickerson is working hard to earn a spot on the 25-man roster and he believes he can bat leadoff if counted on. He’s been in Scottsdale since last Sunday.

“I wanted to get some of the little things down, like bunting, and just getting (good) jumps and things like that,” he said. “If I want to compete for the leadoff spot, I have to be ready and well-equipped.”

Dickerson, in the mix with Charlie Blackmon and Drew Stubbs (and perhaps Brandon Barnes) for the third starting outfield spot, is working with new first-base coach Eric Young and Double-A Tulsa manager Kevin Riggs on his bunting skills.

* Lefty Franklin Morales, acquired from the Red Sox in a trade for utility infielder Jonathan Herrera, hope the Rockies will give him a real shot to be a starter. He was used as both a starter and a reliever for the Red Sox, making nine starts in 2012, but just one last season after a back injury slowed him in spring training.

“I talked to my agent in the offseason about it,” Morales said. “I wanted to be a starter again, because now I have more pitches and I have more confidence in myself. I throw more strike right now. I sat down with him and we talked about it and now I have to try.

“I need an opportunity to start games here in the spring and I try to show them what I can do. I’m excited for that.”

Morales, of course, was a rookie starter in 2007 when he helped the Rockies reach their only World Series. He said returning to the Rockies is like coming home.

“I feel good,” he said. “I came back to my family where I grew up, from the minor leagues to big leagues. I feel fine. I feel comfortable.”

* Right-handed reliever Matt Belisle, 33, is confident he can rebound from his disappointing 2013 season. Usually a reliable workhorse, he finished 5-7 with a 4.32 ERA, and he got hit hard at times.

He knew he had to change some things.

“I just want to use a little bit more of my tools,” he said. “I want to throw the changeup a little bit more. I want to maintain my aggression. The league showed me last year that I needed to make a little bit of a change.

“And once I started doing that, I showed that I was very capable of doing it and it was beneficial, so I want to pick up where I left off with that. I really worked hard on my changeup.”

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.